Roman Abramovich's investment company, Millhouse LLC and OAO Pharmstandard buy a majority share of Russian biosimilar manufacturer Biocad. Millhouse will own 50%, Pharmstandard 20% and Biocad founder and CEO Dmitry Morozov will own 30%. The purchase price is undisclosed but the firm is valued at ~$1B according to a source close to the matter.

Biocad is currently recruiting patients for clinical studies of copies of Roche's (RHHBY) Rituxan, Herceptin and Avastin. The firm also cancer chemotherapies, a drug for genital infections and three drugs for viral infections.

Fitch says AMGN's leverage is going to increase significantly because of the acquisition, by at least $8B.

To pay for the deal, AMGN is taking out $8.1B of five-year loans and paying an average interest rate 104 basis points above the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate - despite the fact that it's sitting on $22B in cash.

Why? Because of a quirk in the U.S. tax system in which companies' foreign earnings are taxable in the U.S., but only once they are repatriated to the parent.

Companies sitting on large amounts of cash can cut their tax bills by keeping income offshore in lower-tax countries. As a result, American companies - like Amgen - are holding a lot of cash offshore, but cash poor at home - which in AMGN's case leads to higher leverage and lower credit ratings.

Amgen (AMGN) is paying $10.4B, or $9.7B excluding Onyx's (ONXX) cash, making it the fifth-largest biotechnology deal in history. The $125-a-share offer represents a 4.2% increase from Amgen's $120 bid in June. Onyx closed at $116.96 on Friday.

By buying Onyx, Amgen is gaining full rights to Kyprolis, a potential blockbuster treatment for multiple myeloma, revenue from liver and kidney cancer drug Nexavar, royalties on Bayer's colon cancer medicine Stivarga, and prospective future payments on a breast cancer drug that Pfizer is developing.

The deal comes as safety fears have hit sales of Amgen's flagship anemia drugs, Aranesp and Epogen, and ahead of a patent cliff starting in 2015 in which four of the company's five top-selling products are due to lose patent protection. (PR)

It's official: Amgen (AMGN) will acquire Onyx (ONXX) for $125/ share, putting to rest weeks of speculation about what the terms of the deal would turn out to be after a dispute over Kyprolis data reportedly put the two companies at odds over price.

The spat over access to trial data on Kyrpolis looks like it hasn't been resolved. Reports earlier this week suggested that the dispute over access to data on Kyprolis had been taken care of, with ONXX agreeing to provide the information. However, ONXX has apparently balked, saying the data pertains to sensitive patient data.

Amgen hasn't put a new offer on the table yet and is considering its next move.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) has reportedly provided data from the Phase III trial of its blood-cancer drug Kyprolis to Amgen (AMGN) and other potential acquirers, removing a stumbling block that had caused talks to stall.

Amgen is in advanced negotiations to buy Onyx for $9.5B and had asked for the information to better assess the medicine, which is seen as a potential blockbuster, while AstraZeneca (AZN) has also held discussions about a deal.

Onyx had been reluctant to provide the data, as the trial of Kyprolis is still ongoing.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX+2.7%) pops as a bidding war could be developing. Amgen (AMGN) may still bid for the company, reports Bloomberg, with Pfizer (PFE), Novartis (NVS), and AstraZeneca (AZN) also reportedly prepping their own offers.

Having turned down Amgen (AMGN), Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) is reportedly attracting acquisition interest from a number of other large drug companies, including Pfizer (PFE), which has licensed the palbociclib breast-cancer drug from Onyx and is due to pay royalties of 8% on it, and Novartis (NVS), which has a strong lineup of cancer treatments. It's also worth noting that Onyx has a partnership with Bayer (BAYZF.PK) to sell two drugs for liver, kidney and colon cancer.

Onyx (ONXX) shares rocket 51% to $130.98 after the company says that it's rejected a $120/share offer from Amgen (AMGN+0.6%) and that it's seeking buyers after receiving inquiries. There's no shortage of speculation about who could acquire Onyx, with Bayer (BAYZF.PK), Celgene (CELG), Novartis (NVS), Bristol-Myers (BMY), AstraZeneca (AZN), Eli Lilly (LLY), Gilead (GILD) and Pfizer (PFE) all mentioned. However, Forbes' Matthew Herper notes that potential blockbuster blood-cancer drug Kyprolis has only received accelerated FDA approval, which can be revoked. Big Pharma may have wanted to await further trial results later this year amid concerns about Kyprolis' safety.

Pfizer (PFE) and Amgen (AMGN) are reportedly two of three remaining bidders for Russian biotechnology company Biocad, which could be worth $750M-$1B. Biocad develops biosimilars, or copies of branded drugs. The company has already partnered Pfizer on projects, including on a hemophilia treatment.